NORFOLK, Va. – Senior Day arrives Sunday as the final weekend of MEAC play takes place this Saturday and Sunday. A lot is at stake for the Norfolk State softball team as it takes on Howard for a three-game series to close out the regular season.
 
Norfolk State sits 10-2 in the MEAC Northern Division. The Spartans need just one more win, or a loss by Morgan State (7-4) to claim no worse than a share of the division title. It would mark the first ever for the program. It can claim the title outright by winning two out of three, Morgan State losing two out of three, or a combination of one NSU win and one MSU loss.
 
Saturday's games against Howard will start at 1 p.m. at the NSU Softball Field, and Sunday's contest will take place at noon. The program will honor its three seniors of Hunter Halford, Kylee Lopez and Shannon Buffington before Sunday's contest. Live stats and live video for all three games, meanwhile, will be available.
 
The Spartans have already locked up the No. 1 seed in the North thanks to Morgan State's postseason illegibility. Their best finishes since joining the MEAC prior to the 1998 season are second-place standings in the North in 2013, '15 and '16, as well as a second-place overall finish in 2007 when the league did not have divisions.
 
They own a 23-16 overall record coming into the weekend, guaranteeing a winning overall record for the fourth time since joining the conference and the first since 2013. Howard currently sits in third place in the division at 6-6, 13-25 overall.
 
Coppin State (5-7), Delaware State (4-8) and Maryland Eastern Shore (3-8) round out the standings. Two of those three will qualify for the MEAC tournament along with NSU and Howard. DSU and MDES play this weekend, and Coppin State takes on Morgan State.
 
It's also rivalry week in the Southern Division. Florida A&M (12-0) and Bethune-Cookman (11-1) face each other with the division title on the line, North Carolina Central (7-5) and North Carolina A&T (5-7) will battle it out for third and fourth, and Savannah State (1-11) and South Carolina State (0-12) will be looking to stay out of last place following their three-game series.
 
Tournament Time
All of that will lead into the MEAC tournament taking place from May 8-11 in Ormond Beach, Florida. The top four teams from each division advance to the tournament. NSU qualified this year for the first time since 2016.
 
Who is Howard
The Bison have certainly improved compared to their recent history. Thanks to an influx of freshmen, they lead the league in hitting at .290, although they sit near the bottom in ERA at 6.27.
 
Freshmen Kalita Dennis (.431, 33 runs, 11 doubles, six home runs, 29 RBI), Camille Navarro (.414, 27 runs, 15 doubles, 31 RBI) and Xzarria Simmons (.398, 10 doubles, 20 RBI) all sit near the top of the MEAC in batting average. Other freshmen hitters including Ayana Sallee (.356), Mackenzie Soper (.333) and Sienna Herrera (.311, 15 RBI), although those three have not had nearly as many at bats as the top three.
 
Two pitchers have done most of the work, including Mackenzi Steele (9-15, 6.19 ERA, 82 strikeouts in 130.0 innings) and Tracey Mosley (4-8, 6.00 ERA in 95.2 innings of work). The Bison have taken two out of three against Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore while losing two of three in series against Morgan State and Coppin State.
 
MEAC Rankings
Lopez enters the final stretch of her senior season currently ranked second in the MEAC in RBI (33) and third in home runs (6). Halford finds herself second in ERA (2.52), third in wins (12) and fifth in strikeouts (83). Buffington is one of two players in the league with two saves, and she is also first in most relief appearances with 19.
 
Halford is behind teammate Skylar Swain in ERA, as the reigning MEAC Pitcher of the Week leads all players at 2.47. Shelby DesChamps is first in hits (53) as well as second in runs (38) and total bases (67). Tuli Iosefa is tied for the league lead in home runs (7) and Jazzmaine Hammond is third in stolen bases (27).
 
Hammond is 10^th in the nation in stolen bases per game (0.75), and DesChamps is 48^th (0.50). The Spartans are currently 12^th among 295 teams in stolen bases per game at 2.16.
 
Speaking of Swipes
Hammond now has 27 stolen bases on the year, and she needs just four more to tie Morgan Boyd's Division I record of 31 set in 2013. NSU is guaranteed five more games, including the three this weekend as well as a minimum of two in the MEAC tournament.
 
DesChamps is already in the top 10 in season D-I records for both batting average (.393) and runs (38). Halford and Swain are in the top 10 for ERA, and the same goes for Halford for wins.
 
On a career level, aside from owning the school record for home runs with 27, Lopez ranks eighth with 26 doubles and is sixth in total bases (241). Swain (2.94) and Halford (3.25) are both in the top 10 in career ERA, and Halford is also in the top 10 in wins (29), appearances (77), starts (65), complete games (38), shutouts (7), innings pitched (403.1) and strikeouts (230).
 
At 2.77, NSU is flirting with the D-I record for ERA, currently held by the 2001 team with a 2.73 earned run average.
 
Series History
NSU has won 17 of the last 19 games against Howard, and the Spartans now lead the Bison 26-13 all time. HU last won a series from NSU in 2012 after taking two out of three that year.